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cleaning supplies
When my daughter was born I became very diligent about keeping my house free of harmful chemicals. I read so many books and articles about how chemical-laden cleaning products are. Also, used daily these products could cause harm to those living in the home, especially babies since they put their mouths on everything.
I began to seek out natural alternatives to commercial cleaners and realized that many were already in my kitchen pantry. So, not only was I going to be using healthier products, I was going to save money by using items I already had.
Here are a few of my favorite homemade cleaning products.
- Furniture Polish: The juice of one lemon, two teaspoons of olive oil and 3 tablespoons of water mixed together makes a wonderful smelling polish. The oil is very good for most wooden surfaces. These ingredients can be stored in a spray bottle, but must be changed out about every month.
- Window Cleaner: Three tablespoons white vinegar and two cups of water combined and mixed in a spray bottle make an excellent window cleaner. Newspaper, instead of paper towels, seems to clean without leaving any lint behind. Some people don't like the smell of vinegar but as soon as it dries, the smell disappears.
- Scouring Agent: Baking soda works well as a scouring agent and cleans tough soap scum inside tubs and water marks in toilets.
- All-Purpose Cleaner: Combine 1/2 cup white vinegar, 1/4 cup baking soda and 1/2 gallon of water to create a cleaner that can be used for any clean-up job.
In addition to these all natural cleaners, I purchased a steam mop to clean all hard floors in my house (laminate, vinyl and tile). The steam is powerful and cleans well. I have not purchased any floor cleaning solutions since I bought the steam mop.
